Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

‘Faith Healer’ Brags About Violent Tendencies

Here’s a video of Todd Bentley, a “faith healer” (read: complete fraud), bragging to a congregation about how the holy spirit often tells him to become violent in order to heal people, including kicking a woman with cancer in the face. He claims he healed her, of course, but like all faith healers he can’t provide any actual evidence of that.

Vince: Well one day I was sitting at home threatening the kids, and I looked out of the hole in the wall and sees this tank drive up and one of Dinsdale’s boys gets out and he comes up, all nice and friendly like, and says Dinsdale wants to have a talk with me. So he chains me to the back of the tank and takes me for a scrape round to Dinsdale’s. And Dinsdale’s there in the conversation pit with Doug and Charles Paisley, the baby crusher, and a couple of film producers and a man they called ‘Kierkegaard’, who just sat there biting the heads of whippets and Dinsdale sayd ‘I hear you’ve been a naughty boy Clement’ and he splits me nostrils open and saws me leg off and pulls me liver out, and I said my name’s not Clement and then he loses his temper and nails my head to the floor.

Of all the things that are wrong with religion, I think that enabling sociopaths like this is the worst. Whether it’s fraud, abuse or outright murder (e.g. “witches”), religion makes it “OK” in many people’s eyes.

It’s interesting that he shows such care in making sure that any laptop computers that anyone is holding as they fall writhing to the floor are protected… Doesn’t Apple support marriage equality? So, I guess he does too.